1.0 Introduction

1.1 Our brief

The Scottish Government has commissioned Pennington Choices Ltd
(
PCL) to
undertake a measure specification audit on the Scottish
Government's new national fuel poverty scheme (Warmer Homes
Scotland). Since it's inception a number of technical challenges
have arisen that have affected the implementation of the scheme. It
has at times been difficult for Warmworks to identify appropriate
measures for some households. These have generally been off-gas
rural properties. In addition, regulation changes to oil tanks have
resulted in some installs not proceeding as customers were unable
to replace tanks before installs could take place for various
reasons.

The overarching purpose of the audit is to determine whether or
not the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme contains the most appropriate
suite of measures to achieve its key objectives of reducing fuel
poverty and carbon emissions; and improving the housing stock. The
audit will also determine whether the technical specification of
each measure is still appropriate.
PCL will make
recommendations for any amendments, additions or discontinuation of
measures offered that would be beneficial.

The audit is to focus on the following key areas:

Measure suitability and mix

Non-specified measures

The regulatory environment

The review was commissioned in July 2016, with an expected
completion date set for September 2016.

1.2 Methodology & Scope

The initial audit has been undertaken by the following
individuals:

Staff member

Position

Matt Corry (MC)

Head of Survey Services

Shirley Quinn (SQ)

Project Manager

Ben Davidson (BD)

Building Surveyor

The audit included onsite reviews, live data interrogation and
additional desktop analysis where required.

The scope of service is provided below in more detail:

1. Measure suitability and mix - A review of the suitability of
each measure currently available through the scheme in terms of the
energy efficiency savings delivered, their carbon footprint and
their price, and make recommendations for any clarifications,
improvements, amendments or discontinuation of part or all of a
measure as deemed to be appropriate. This assessment will also
identify any additional potential energy efficiency measures that
would cost less than £25,000 that could practically be
offered through the scheme. The assessment of these will be
presented using the same analytical approach to the assessment of
the current measures to aid comparisons.

2. Non-specified measures - When the scheme opened, a number of
measures within the contract had not yet been specified. A draft
specification has been produced by the Scottish Government's
previous technical support. Our assessment will review these
specifications and suggest refinements where deemed beneficial in
terms of clarity or technical competence.

3. The regulatory environment - This part of the assessment will
look at any changes to the regulatory environment that the scheme
operates within since its initial development in 2015; and identify
any changes to the scheme that are recommended as a result.
Specifically, we will confirm whether all regulatory requirements
are fully accounted for and make recommendations for any
current/future requirements that should be accommodated. As part of
the review we will consider regulations around oil tanks and the
likely implications of the proposed
VAT changes consulted on
by
DECC in
late 2015/ early 2016.

The key members of Warmworks staff that we have been able to
work with in relation to the initial audit are as follows:

Staff member

Position

Ross Armstrong (RA)

Contracts Director

Nicola McLeod (NM)

Operations and Supply Chain Manager

Simon Dawe (SD)

Financial Controller

1.3 Report structure

The outcome of the assessment will be reported firstly to the
Scottish Government's identified contract manager. The report will
then be shared with the
HEEPS
Delivery Board and Warmer Homes Scotland Strategic Board.

1.4 Project oversight

The review has been overseen by a group of senior Scottish
Government staff, consisting of:

Staff member

Position

Fiona Quinn (FQ)

Head of
HEEPS
National Schemes

Joanne Wright (JW)

Project Manager

The group was involved in developing and agreeing the brief and
providing supporting information relating to the original technical
specification for the scheme.